Gennings Dunker stands out in a crowd, and it’s not difficult to see why.
Part of it is that he is 6-foot-5 and weighs 320 pounds, making him one of the largest specimens no matter the room he inhabits.
The other reason is the hair, the long flowing red mullet that flows to his shoulders. It is accompanied by a thick red mustache, which makes him look like the Paul Bunyan of Pittsburgh Steelers offensive linemen.
Dunker, a 23-year-old guard from Iowa, was in the city for rookie minicamp last weekend, and predictably it didn’t take long for him to get recognized.
“I walked to Cheesecake Factory to get a steak, and somebody was honking at me in their car,” Dunker said. “I was like, ‘What the?’ Pittsburgh is awesome. It’s so pretty, the hills and how green it is. I love Iowa, but it’s super flat. You guys got hills here.”
And rivers. Dunker was dismayed to discover that swimming in the Mon is not advised, but as an avid fisherman, he is looking forward to casting a line in the river.
“I love this place,” he said.
The feeling will become mutual and long-lasting if Dunker displays the skills at Acrisure Stadium that made him a lynchpin of the Iowa offensive line. The Steelers have an opening at left guard with Isaac Seumalo departing in free agency, and Dunker is expected to compete for the starting job this summer.
“He’s an aggressive kid,” offensive line coach James Campen said after the Steelers selected Dunker in the third round of the draft. “His focus and intent are really capturing. It projects onto the field as well. Just a very serious person.”
Not all the time, though. Dunker has a light-hearted side that has endeared him to new teammate Max Ilheanachor, the Steelers’ first-round pick.
“He’s a stud,” Iheanachor said. “He’s funny, too. Everybody’s unique in their own ways, and he just brings a different energy to the group that we need.”
At Iowa, in his redshirt senior season, Dunker helped the Hawkeyes win the Joe Moore Award that is given annually to the top offensive line in college football. He started 38 games over his final three seasons with the Hawkeyes, almost all of them coming at tackle.
Dunker was projected to move inside to guard in the pros, and he took reps exclusively at left guard last Saturday during rookie orientation.
“Some of the things we do are a tad different maybe than what he’s done in the past,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “He’s made a very good first impression.”
Dunker prepared for the transition as soon as his college season ended. At the Senior Bowl, he moved inside without skipping a beat.
“The fact that he so seamlessly went into guard at the Senior Bowl made it really appealing,” Campen said. “There’s not a lot of big people like that who can pull and match the strength that he has.”
Dunker squats 690 pounds, and he did 29 sets on the bench press at Iowa’s pro day. Only six players put up more weight at the NFL Combine. Dunker also has gained notoriety for being a two-time winner of the Solon Beef Days Hay Bay Toss competition.
Not bad for someone who claims he wasn’t the best athlete on his high school team. Dunker is a product of tiny Lena-Winslow High School in Illinois and said his graduating class consisted of 50 students.
“Two guys ahead of me went to Iowa,” he said. “They were better athletes than me. I’ve never been the best athlete on any team I’ve ever played on.”
After redshirting his freshman season and adding bulk to his frame, Dunker played in 47 games over the next four seasons, eventually becoming a mainstay at tackle. His first college start, coincidentally, was at right guard, so in a way, Dunker is returning to his roots.
Dunker was prepared for a switch not just to the interior of the line, but to the left side.
“I had been working on my left hand stances the whole time leading up to the combine,” he said. “Then again after the combine just in case I was playing left guard since I hadn’t done it in forever.”
Dunker said the coaching staff at Iowa had the tackles work like guards in their run block and pass protections to get accustomed to the speed of the game at both positions. He also learned early on that hand usage was paramount to playing on the line.
“We would work on it every day,” he said. “No matter how strong you are, you’re going to get popped. I kind of got sick of getting popped because I wasn’t doing it right at first. Trial by error. Keep working on it every day and eventually it will work out.”
If that happens with the Steelers, Dunker will become a fan favorite for more than his hair and oversized body.
Until then, he’s taking his local fame in stride.
“It’s kind of funny,” he said. “I haven’t taken a snap yet. We’re just out here practicing.”